Champlain Investment Partners LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG)

Champlain Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 343,280 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,005 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. were worth $97,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Tudor Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. in the third quarter worth $401,000. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co raised its holdings in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co now owns 9,789 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $2,754,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $22,538,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. during the third quarter worth about $427,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. by 37.2% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 9,824 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $2,764,000 after purchasing an additional 2,666 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 85.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on AJG shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $266.00 to $265.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increased their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $314.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. TD Cowen raised Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $295.00 to $377.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $370.00 to $372.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. from $308.00 to $346.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $315.27.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:AJG opened at $332.75 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $330.13 and its 200 day moving average is $305.19. The company has a market cap of $85.10 billion, a PE ratio of 51.04 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.51 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has a 1 year low of $230.08 and a 1 year high of $350.70.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. (NYSE:AJG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The financial services provider reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. had a return on equity of 16.47% and a net margin of 12.70%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. will post 11.54 EPS for the current year.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 21st. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.78%. This is a boost from Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.’s payout ratio is currently 39.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. news, Director David S. Johnson sold 325 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $322.06, for a total value of $104,669.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 44,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,422,812.98. This represents a 0.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Scott R. Hudson sold 7,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $333.59, for a total transaction of $2,505,260.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 90,020 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,029,771.80. This trade represents a 7.70 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 23,235 shares of company stock valued at $7,478,224 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

About Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co engages in the provision of insurance brokerage, reinsurance brokerage, consulting, and third-party claims settlement and administration services. It operates through the following segments: Brokerage, Risk Management, and Corporate. The Brokerage segment consists of retail and wholesale insurance brokerage operations.